house speaker john boehner also spoke to president obama on the phone last night. he said he wanted to know where the administration would rein in spending, but that he had heard nothing new. >> i was hopeful we'd see a specific plan for cutting spending. we sought to find out today what the president is really willing to do. listen, i remain hopeful that productive conversations in the days ahead can be had but the white house has to get serious. >> sreenivasan: senate minority leader mitch mcconnell echoed that complaint. in a statement, he said, "today, they took a step backward and significantly closer to the cliff." conversely, white house spokesman jay carney charged republicans failed to provide any details on what they could tolerate in the way of tax increases. >> the president has always engaged in this with real numbers. when you talk about flexibility on revenue, all we've heard so far and it's welcomed, don't get me wrong, but we've heard that yes, revenue on the table but we need more than that. >> sreenivasan: away from the microphones, there were re